Express Yourself!

iMessage Apps help people easily create and share content, play games, and collaborate with friends without needing to leave the conversation. Explore how you can design iMessage apps and sticker packs that are perfectly suited for a deeply social context.

Resources

The iMessage App Store is only a
year old, and there are already
so many great apps, and so many
new experiences.
There are also many more yet to
be discovered.

An essential part of the
iMessage App experience is
Stickers.

Stickers have done so much to
brighten our conversations.
There are so many different
types of Stickers, even animated
ones.
Look at all the Stickers here.

And these are only the Apple
ones.
Let's take a look at what makes
them so great.
Going to jump into a
conversation, and my friend sent
me this image of a show that we
went to.
I'm going to react with a
Sticker.
Going to pick this thumbs-up one
here, tap and hold to peel, and
put it where I want it, scale,
rotate, and drop it there.
I'm going to add another
Sticker, just to be extra fun
with it.
Pick this one.

And I think I'm going to send
this one with a full screen
effect.

This new echo one that Mac
worked on is great.
What makes the Sticker
experience so effective is that
it's flexible.
With the expandable App drawer,
I can use the half screen and
full screen view to find exactly
the Sticker that I want.

It is fast.
It is easy, and light.
In other words, it's convenient.

Prior to Stickers, you could not
respond to an older bubble in
the conversation, and you
definitely couldn't overlay
images on top of bubbles.
That is a game changer.

I could pick my Sticker, and put
it exactly where I want it,
transforming the conversation
for both of us to enjoy.
Using Stickers is playful, and
personal.

There are so many different
types of ways to send Stickers,
expressing yourself in unique
and colorful ways is fun.
That animation is so cool.
We've seen how being convenient,
personal and fun are part of
what makes Stickers such a great
experience.

But what works for Stickers can
also work for other apps.
Like expressive apps, sharing
apps, and collaborative apps.
Let's focus on expressive apps.
Here is one that I love.

Tumblr. Tumblr's iOS app is a
social media destination
optimized for sharing photos and
gifts, but that doesn't
necessarily translate into
person to person communication.

So they made something
different.
They made a GIF generator.

Going to jump into another app
here, and pick a video that I
made.

Cool. I can set the playback
behavior, and speed it up a
little bit.

My friend is having a bad day,
so I'm going to send him a fun
little message.

Bounce back, Homey!
I could pick the color.
And change the font.

Scale and rotate.
Get that frog in there, nice.
And send it.

Cool.
Tumblr made a robust GIF editor
allowing you to trim your video,
control the play speed, and set
playback behavior.
It is so powerful, and lives
right within messages.
The whole process is lightweight
and convenient.

You can also customize text,
setting the font style, color,
scale and rotation to
personalize your GIF.
All these decisions make your
GIF special for both you and the
person you're sending it to.
And it's fun to see the GIF that
you just created looping in your
conversation.
I know this is going to get a
good reaction.

We've seen how Tumblr has made a
robust, expressive app that is
so different from Stickers, yet
it maintains the core qualities
of a successful iMessage app.
Let's see how it works for a
sharing app.
Here is an awesome app.
Dunkin Donuts.

Their iOS app is filled with all
kinds of stuff.
You can see your rewards, find
locations, see the menu, order
drinks.
But all these features don't
necessarily translate into a
conversational experience.
But one part definitely does.

Gift cards.
Going to go in here.
My friend just helped me move,
so I'm going to send him a gift
card.
And he was kind of lazy, so I'm
only going to send him five
bucks.
Going to pick the right gift
card.
How about "You're one in a
million"?
That is kind of silly, right?
And use the Apple Pay sheet, and
boom, just like that.

I just sent a gift card.
Apple Pay allows you to perform
financial transactions without
leaving messages.
It is super convenient.
These cards look really nice.

Maybe it's your nephew's
graduation or a friend's
birthday, or you want to let
someone know that you're
thinking about them.
Sending a gift card is a great
way to do it.
Everyone loves donuts.
And giving is fun.

Being kind is fun.
The person receiving this is
probably going to be really
surprised.
So the Dunkin Donuts app is so
different than Stickers and
Tumblr, it still works well
because it embodies the same
three qualities.

There are also collaborative
apps, like games and polling.
Games and polling rely on both
parties to participate, to make
the most of the app experience.
I'm going to share with you one
of my favorite apps.
Tinder. Tinder is a popular
dating app, but you're probably
asking yourself how does a
dating app find its way into
messages?
One of the core features of
Tinder is Stacks.
A data can upload a set of
images, or create a stack, to
attract potential connections.
I am going to go here and create
a stack.
I'm having a little personal
crisis today, so maybe my friend
could help me.
I really need to know what shoes
I should wear today.

Going to pick my images, name my
stack, and vote on my own stack.
I really love all of these, so
hopefully I can get some help.
Then I just sent a poll.
Imagine if you had to create a
poll without using this app.
You would have to send these
images individually.

And how would people vote for
them?
They would have to say leather
boots, or yellow sneakers.
But here, they could just cast
their vote.

Making polls with Tinder is so
easy.
I have the Tinder app just so I
could use this feature
[laughter].
Taking a poll is personal.

You're sharing a personal set of
images, selfies, sneakers, food,
or whatever, you're asking a
trusted person for their opinion
because you care.
And it's fun.

It's fun to pick people's
brains.
It's fun to agree and disagree.

The poll evolves as people vote,
and becomes an enjoyable event
for everyone.

So whether you're making a
sticker pack, a GIF generator, a
gifting experience, or an image
poll, making them convenient,
personal and fun can make a huge
difference in the success of
your app.
Here are some tips to get
started.

Tumblr, Dunkin Donuts and Tinder
do not set out to put their
entire apps into messages, and
thankfully they didn't.
They integrated only features
that were focused on
communication.
Handcrafted messages are fun to
send and receive.

Find ways to let your users
create and customize the
experience.

You may find that there are ways
to use your app that you never
even imagined.

You may discover new user bases,
like my experience with Tinder.
There are so many platform
tools, peel and place stickers,
Apple Pay sheet, access to the
microphone, camera and photos.

Think about what is best for
your app, and improve on an
existing experience, or create a
new one.
Because in the end, you want to
create a wonderful experience
for your family and friends.
Thank you.

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